Florence Fennel

Just found a module tray full of Florence Fennel that my wife kindly planted for me .... however, I've read a few horror stories about transplanting them. Is it really as bad as all that?!? I know I can get some more in the allotment mid-june straight into the ground, but it always seems a shame to watch a seedling die. I mean we can perform heart transplants, so a little seedling must be possible!

 

It can be a bother, they often bolt if they've got dry, been planted too early or get the tap root disturbed. Its a hell of a root, nearly the size of a Parsnip.

If they do bolt, you can still use the foliage as a herb, and save the seeds (I love sugar coated fennel seeds)

 

I guess it will be a case of sowing some seed at the lottie when I had already planned for, but bless she though she would help ......... !

 

I've given up. Grown them loads of times, never had them NOT bolt :(

 

I left some roots in the ground last year, by accident....they've re sprouted to produce some impressive bulbs! It's not an easy crop, but worth the effort.

 

Maybe that's the way forward then, let them come up when they want rather than when we would like them to?

 

It certainly works for quite a few things here Coriander, dill and spinach, for example. Never been able to grow them before, but I let one plant of each self-sow about three years ago, and now they grow like weeds everywhere. It's not a tidy method, but very productive

 

Well this is the fennel from modules, and its doing okay. I think!